


Lady Magique

by MiracAlice (AliceTheBookGirl)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Action/Adventure, Comedy, F/M, Familiars, Friendship, Gen, Harry Potter - Freeform, Innate magical abilities, Kinda secret agents but like mages, Known identities, Low-key Mystery, Magic AU, Miraculous Ladybug series turned into anime, New roles for kwamis, Romance, Soul Eater - Freeform, Strong Anime Vibes, Strong inspirations from, and any other magic school story, fairy tail - Freeform, magic school au, no miraculous, seriously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-22 22:55:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15592602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliceTheBookGirl/pseuds/MiracAlice
Summary: On a typical day, Marinette masquerades as a ladybug themed mage (her kwami insists the guise will bring her good luck) and goes on quests to save people from themselves. On a less typical day, she has to remember that her black cat familiar’s name is supposed to be Kit Cat, and not Adrien nor Chat Noir (Plagg gets a kick out of her partner's ever increasing number of alter egos). But really, who in the entirety of the Academy is going to connect her mischievous cat for Gabriel Agreste’s missing son?





	Lady Magique

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is. The work that will become my greatest shame: the magic anime AU. I'm trying my hand at what a mangaka does, minus the artwork, which is creating a serialization of a story with not much idea as to how the entire will go and kinda winging most of it. I think peak mangaka skill resides with Eiichiro Oda (creator of One Piece) because, fun fact, the guy created almost a dozen new characters under like four hours to please his editors and I've fallen in love with almost all of them. Oda-sensei's got talent. 
> 
> But enough of my fangirling. Here's my underwhelming contribution.

The large man said nothing as the thick chains that shot from his palms wrapped around the limbs of the two teens who were running towards him, stopping them in their tracks and dragging them to the ground.

The girl yelped in surprise at the weight.

“M’Ladynette! I'll save you!” the boy shouted.

“It'll take too long, Chat! Free yourself and go after him first. I'll catch up!”

The boy pouted but nodded anyway. He grabbed one of his chains and concentrated hard before swiping his hand across the metal links, watching with satisfaction as they rusted and crumbled away into powder. Repeating the process as fast as he could with the rest of the chains, Chat only gave his partner a brief glance when he finally got free before he dashed after the cursed policeman.

At least, they believed he was cursed. They had yet to find a butterfly hex on the man's body that would signify that he was an Akuma victim.

“The guy covered a big distance just now,” drawled a black kwami as he flew in front of Chat’s face. “You should fly to catch up to him faster.”

Chat made a face as he navigated the winding cobblestone alleyways of the small town with only the policeman's lingering magic traces to guide him.

“I really hate flying, Plagg. It's more Ladybug’s thing.” Sensing the magic fading fast, he sighed. “But I guess you're right.”

“As always,” Plagg quipped smugly.

Chat ignored him as he stopped running. He took in a deep breath and held it for several seconds before letting it all out in a rush, feeling his body tingle with his exhale. When he breathed in again, his body was significantly smaller and he had wings and a beak.

“A raven,” the kwami approved.

“Not now, Plagg. We gotta catch that guy!” With that, the two took off, flying high above the rooftops.

Only to spot a red and black clad witch zooming past on her broom. Plagg snickered.

“Looks like she'll be beating you for the fourth time in a row.”

Chat’s beady eyes narrowed. “Not if I can help it. Plagg, get into the jewel!”

The kwami obeyed, rolling his eyes as he zoomed into the silver ring tucked around the raven's foot, turning the accessory black. Chat immediately flew after his partner to land on the back of her broom. Transforming back into a human and sitting back on his haunches, he peered over her shoulder.

“Any luck finding the guy?”

Turning her head slightly to look at him, Chat saw a hint of a smirk grace her features. “Silly kitty, I don’t need luck.” With that, Chat knew what was coming as Ladybug dove her broom towards the ground, heading for what he now could see was the policeman they had been chasing all week.

“What are you trying to accomplish?” Chat yelled as he leapt off the broomstick and transformed back into a raven. He got a confident response back.

“This!”

The policeman mechanically turned his head up to observe the commotion in the sky and immediately brought his hands up to shoot chains at the witch again. At the speed she was going, Ladybug bypassed all of them before they intersected. She allowed her broom to disappear as her signature red and black-spotted yo-yo materialized in her hand. As she neared the policeman, her hand shot forward and pressed the yo-yo against the man’s chest where a warped version of his badge was pinned.

“De-evilize!”

Chat shielded his eyes with a wing when a blinding light shone from their target. When he looked back seconds later, the man was on his knees and holding a hand to his head. Ladybug stood before him in triumph. Chat flew down and transformed into a human as he landed.

Flashing him a smirk, Ladybug said, “I win.”

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. It’s better if you do it anyway so we can find some clues. It’s probably counterproductive when I destroy the hex.”

“Whatever you say, Kitten,” she giggled. He couldn’t help but beam back at her.

***

“You’re _late_!”

Marinette flinched, freezing on her way to her desk. A soft black tail curled around her neck in sympathy. Straightening up, she scratched the chin of the cat sitting on her shoulder and muttered a sheepish excuse.

“Professor Mendeliev, I was--you see, I had to Headmaster today for a report of importance.”

The woman's unimpressed look and the soft snickers throughout the cavernous lab room just made Marinette lower her head in shame of her incompetence.

“What Marinette means to say, Professor, is that Headmaster Fu requested our presence as soon we arrived from our latest quest. We only meant to join one of our favorite lessons of the day with as little disruption as possible.”

Looking at the black cat, the alchemy professor pushed her glasses up and tsked. But she was no longer frowning.

Marinette nodded quickly. “Right! What Kit Cat said!”

“Very well. To your seat.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, Marinette scurried to her seat. The class continued and soon the students were working on their alchemy experiments for the week.

Marinette tapped at her chin as she stared from her textbook to the metallic gray slab on her table. “One metal alloy to another. It shouldn't be too hard because it's basically the same thing, right?” she mumbled. She turned to her partner. “What are we doing wrong?”

Pausing from licking his paw, Kit Cat looked at the metal. “I…don't think that's how it works.”

Groaning, Marinette let her head bang against the table.

From somewhere behind her, she heard whispering and laughter. She noticed her familiar stiffen and his fur stand on end from where he sat on the table. She sighed.

“Ignore them, Kitty. Whatever they're saying probably isn't true.”

“Marinette.”

His serious tone tore her gaze away from their hopeless class assignment. His voice was quieter when he next spoke so no one but Marinette could possibly hear him.

“Do you wish you could make more friends at this academy?”

She didn't answer him.

“Because I wish I could. And you and I both know how hard it is for people like us to do that from where we are now. The Academy is made to nurture the abilities of anyone who possesses great magical potential but only the best of the best are being trained to become Chevalier in their chosen fields of study.

“We both have that dream, Marinette. Maybe it's time we try to get into the Class of Miracles.”

“Are you joking?”

Marinette and Kit Cat flinched when they realized a student in front of them had turned around and spoken up.

Kit Cat frowned. “Why would I joke about that?”

The student scoffed. “The Academy has over a thousand students enrolled from all over Europe and even some from other continents. Out of all those people there's only like fifteen in the Class of Miracles. There hasn't been a student who could successfully transfer into that class in forty years. If you didn't make it in during your enrollment to the Academy, then there's no way you'll get in now.”

Kit Cat padded forward so he was nose to nose with the student. “Wanna bet? Marinette is the best mage you'll ever see and I'd place my nine lives on the table that she can complete the end of term trials and be offered a spot in the Class of Miracles.”

Before the student could retort, the bells of the Academy rang to signal the end of the school day. The student merely scoffed and left. Lifting his nose in the air, Kit Cat, padded over to Marinette and hopped onto her shoulders as she packed up her things without saying a word. The cat knew the previous topic was one his familiar partner didn’t easily speak about, so he didn’t push for conversation.

Marinette made her way through the castle-like structure of the Academy to the dormitory towers where she and her familiar lived in a two bedroom apartment unit. Six months into the school year and she was still amazed at how huge the castle was to house all of its students in such lavish living conditions, even if they lived in clusters anywhere from two to eight students. Luckily for Marinette and Kit Cat, Headmaster Fu knew of their predicament from the very beginning and gave them a unit for just the two of them. She couldn’t imagine how troublesome their lives would’ve been if they had roommates to keep secrets from.

A loud purr brought her out of her thoughts.

“What’s stressing you out now?”

Marinette waved a hand dismissively. “I’m not stressed. I was just thinking.”

“Uh huh.” Kit Cat licked a short trail on her cheek before leaping to the ground and walking ahead of her. “Can’t fool me, Mari. I know you too well.”

Wiping at her cheek, Marinette sighed. “Just wondering what it would’ve been like if we lived with other people. _That_ would’ve made me so stressed I’d go bald from tearing my hair out.”

Kit Cat chuckled. “But you’d still be beautiful.”

She rolled her eyes in response and scooped up her familiar into her arms. “Seriously, Headmaster Fu is a godsend. He’s the reason we’re even at this amazing school and learning so much. Remember when we first got enrolled?”

“How could I forget? I think I lost one of my nine lives that day.”

…

_“Marinette! Can you and Cat come down for a sec?”_

_Looking at the closed floor hatch of her bedroom from where she was lying on her chaise, Marinette yelled the okay back to her mother. She scratched the head of the black cat next to her to wake him up._

_“Hey, Kitty Cat. Mama wants to see us about something. Tikki, Plagg, you guys come too.”_

_The kwamis flew over from their own corners of the room before landing and snuggling themselves in Marinette’s hair. She heard Plagg yawn loudly._

_“This better be good to be disrupting naptime.”_

_Cat yawned as well but retorted, “Please. If you’re not eating cheese, you’re napping for hours. You don’t need anymore sleep.”_

_Marinette gathered the cat in her arms and walked down the stairs to the kitchen peninsula where her parents were waiting patiently._

_“What is it, Mama? Is something wrong?”_

_Tom and Sabine glanced at each other, looking unsure. “Well, we don’t really know,” Tom began. “But before we confuse all of you, you should take a look at this.” He handed Marinette an envelope with her full name written in elegant calligraphy on the back._

_She opened it carefully and unfolded the single piece of paper that she pulled out._

_“‘Dear Marinette Dupain-Cheng,’” she read aloud, “‘It is our greatest pleasure to inform you of our offer to enroll you into the first year at L'Académie Miraculeuse des Arts Magiques (The Miraculous Academy of Magic Arts)...’ What?!” Her eyes were wide with shock. How did this happen? The Academy was the most prestigious school for magic in all of Europe!_

_“That’s not all,” Sabine interjected. She slid another similar envelope across the counter until it was right in front of Cat. He looked down at it curiously before he froze._

_“Kitty,” Marinette called worriedly, “what is it?”_

_Shaking his head, the black cat began to back up until he reached the edge of the counter, causing him to fall off. He landed on his four feet of course, but what shocked Marinette was when he shifted into his normal human form, a form she had only seen twice in the year she had known him. He was still crouched on the floor, but she could easily see the veil of fear in his bright green eyes._

_“How,” he shakily whispered. “How did they find me?”_

_Tilting her head in confusion, Marinette finally looked at the unopened envelope on the counter. In the same neat font from her own envelope, was written two names._

Adrien Agreste.

…

“Just thinking about it still gives me anxiety,” Kit Cat grumbled. “I was in a constant state of panic for the whole week until we met the headmaster.”

“I’m guessing you’re still salty about it,” Marinette said as she came up to their apartment door. She placed her right hand flat on the wooden surface until she heard the lock click, allowing her to open the door and step inside.

“Salty is not even the start of it.”

Her familiar jumped down and slinked further into the apartment until Marinette shut the front door and locked it, to which he slowed and began to shift into a human, replacing Kit Cat with Chat Noir. He raised his arms above his head into an exaggerated stretch before shaking out his limbs and immediately flopping onto the couch of their living room. He removed the black mask from his face and tossed it onto the coffee table.

“If you’re going to take a nap, at least change out of your travel clothes first,” Marinette scolded as she set her school bag down near her bedroom door and let the kwamis out of it.

“Nah, I won’t be napping. We have to finish that alchemy project then talk about what we’re going to do for the end of term trials.”

Marinette paused from taking off her shoes.

“…There’s nothing to talk about.”

Chat sat up. “You're in some serious denial, Mari. You used to be so excited talking about becoming a Chevalier one day and now that you have that chance, you're throwing it away? Why?”

“I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m throwing it away. We're supposed to keep the extent of our abilities a secret, right? That's the whole point of our Ladybug and Chat Noir disguises when we do those A- and B-rank quests.” She gestured to her partner's all black apparel: a long sleeved tunic, long pants, and a long belt that acted as a tail and fake cat ears that he wore when he wasn't partially transformed as a cat. “We don't want people coming after us for power.”

“Marinette.” Tikki flew at eye level to her charge. “Those were the precautions we took when you two were much younger and less in tune with your magics. Now, you're both strong enough to protect not only yourselves, but each other. If you choose to do the trials, I’ll support you with everything I have. And if you don’t want to do that now, Chat and Plagg won’t pressure you and will wait until you’re ready instead.”

Chat nodded frantically in agreement. “Of course, Princess. I would never make you do something you didn’t want to. But, really consider it, okay? I don’t want you to be scared of chasing your lifelong dream.” He stood up and grasped Marinette’s hands in his, the thin wyvern hide of his gloves feeling rough against her skin. “Though I’d still follow you wherever you go.”

Her heart warmed at that. Her kitten never failed to instill confidence in her. She felt she could tackle anything as long as he was by her side.

“You forget, Chat, it’s not all about me. Everything we do, we decide together. We’re not just familiars.”

“We’re friends.”

“Partners.”

“Family.”

“And my servants.”

Three different voices shouted or groaned.

“Plagg!”

***

“Welcome to all the students of L'Académie Miraculeuse des Arts Magiques who have chosen to participate in the Miracle Trials at the end of this school term, which we hold biannually. As it is only halfway through the year, for many of you this is the first of the trials you have ever experienced.”

From their place among the crowd of students, Marinette and Kit Cat heard Headmaster Fu’s announcement perfectly clear, his perpetually calming voice reaching their ears from the towering dais he stood upon, a hundred meters above the ground.

The day after end of term exams were over, the students of the Academy who were to participate in the trials all gathered in a massive rectangular arena that could fit thousands of spectators in its stands where it stood at the same height as the dais. Even so, the stands were completely full as all non-participating students of the Academy and citizens from all over France came to watch the proceedings. All the participants--Marinette estimated two hundred--had gathered within the arena itself, looking up as Headmaster Fu addressed them all.

“These trials are meant to test not only your physical strength and magic potential, but to bring out your intellect and ingenuity, among other qualities. Mages are born but Chevaliers are made by the individual through both hard work and talent, but they always exist to serve the people and the greater good. Anyone can make it with the right determination, and I have a feeling that this year we’re going to have some pleasant surprises.” Even from far away, Marinette could spot the knowing twinkle in the headmaster’s eye. “Now, if that is all understood, let us get the trials under way.”

The floor of the arena began to rumble and Marinette tensed, not knowing what to expect. The students around her were panicking or stumbling around to find their balance, causing her to be jolted around. She was quick to adjust to the now rapidly moving terrain however, and maintained her balance without problem.

“Participants, your goal is to make it back to the arena within twenty-four hours. The first and only rule is this: no killing. All else goes. Good luck.”

Marinette was faintly aware of Kit Cat baring his claws and clinging to her shoulders right before the ground beneath her feet disappeared and her vision went completely dark.

She quickly materialized her broom to catch herself while Cat muttered a spell and butted his head against hers, transferring his natural night vision to her and allowing her to see their surroundings.

The arena had collapsed and dropped them into a spacious cavern with a high ceiling covered in stalactites with a floor of stalagmites to match. The rocky points down below weren’t sharp enough to impale anyone but they sure would have left a bruise for weeks on the students who were  unlucky enough to slam against them as they fell. Within the walls surrounding the perimeter there were dozens of tunnel entrances that were hardly distinguishable from one another. Marinette figured that only some would lead to the cave’s exit while the rest were paths to traps and dead ends.

She hummed in thought. Scratching her cat under his chin, she asked, “What do you think, Kitty?”

“We pick a tunnel and try it out. We’re strong enough to handle whatever comes at us,” he purred in response.

Marinette giggled. “Someone’s a bit arrogant.” She looked around the cavern that was rapidly growing empty of people. She tilted her head up and considered the jagged rock formations on the ceiling. If they were in a cave then going up would eventually help them escape. Who said they had to take the already existing tunnels?

Pointing straight up, Marinette asked, “What do you say we make our own way out?”

The cat’s eyes sparkled as he answered, “I say we _go-pher_ it.”

All he got in response was deadpan silence before Marinette picked him up and tossed him off her broom.

“In that case, go!”

…

Cat snickered as he quickly shifted into a bat, using echolocation to navigate his way around the hanging stalactites and finding a suitable spot to use his signature spell. Upon landing, he took a deep breath to concentrate his power like a drill and eroded the rock in a single direction. When he sensed the spell had done as he wanted, he quickly flew away to avoid the falling debris.

“Nice work, Kitty!”

He quickly shifted into a cat once more and flipped a landing on Marinette’s broom when she shot past him. Together they flew straight up the tunnel he created, going for several minutes before they finally reached another tunnel that was perpendicular to the one they just exited. Cat couldn’t help but feel smug at how precise and far reaching his powers were becoming.

“I can hear your pleased purr from a mile away, Kitty,” his partner teased as she dismissed her broom and began to walk. Cat jovially trotted beside her. “If your head gets any bigger we’ll end up stuck in this tunnel.”

“What would you do without me, Princess?”

Before the girl could continue the banter, they heard a shout come from behind them, followed by a roar. Marinette and Cat looked at each other before they put their battle faces on. Turning around and putting their guards up, they weren't surprised to see another student running towards them nor the ferocity of the golden furred griffin chasing after her. But they were more than a little shocked when the student suddenly stopped in her tracks to face the creature head on.

“What is she doing?” Marinette hissed as she ran towards the danger. “You don't provoke griffins like that. They're typically peaceful beings anyway unless you've done something major to piss them off. Defiance like that is just offensive to them. Everyone knows that.”

“Apparently she's not everyone.”

Just as the two of them came up right behind the girl, she shot off a rapid spell that caused gushing water to erupt from nowhere, sweeping the griffin away.

There was a short silence before the girl turned around and hummed in surprise.

“Oh, I didn’t see you there.” She swept some of her straight long auburn hair behind her shoulder, but keeping two long tails in front. “Sorry if that scared you. That griffin shouldn’t be bothering anyone for a while.”

“It’s no problem,” Marinette responded slowly. She held her arm out slightly and Cat took his cue to jump up onto her shoulders. “You took care of it pretty easily.”

“You’re that girl with the familiar,” came an abrupt change in topic, making Cat stare at the girl curiously. She eyed him back.

“Uh, you’ve heard of me?”

The girl waved her hand once dismissively. “Everyone’s heard of you. Familiars are rare, so rare that you’re the only student in the entire Academy that has one.” She took a step closer to Marinette, into her space, and causing Cat’s partner to lean away. He hooked his claws into her cloak so he wouldn’t slip off. “You must be something special.”

“I…wouldn’t say that,” Marinette argued. “It’s just a matter of forming a really close bond with someone and vowing to stay by each other’s side no matter what happens.”

The girl just gave a deadpan stare before she abruptly straightened herself. “Like I said, you’re special. Why don’t we form a truce and get out of here together?”

“A truce? Are students actively _fighting_ each other?”

She got a shrug. “Some of them are really competitive. Enough to resort to sabotage. Of course, I don’t have any desire to do that. So what do you say?” The girl stuck her hand out.

Cat looked from the hand to his partner, who looked back at him. There wasn’t much risk to working with others. He didn’t understand why anyone would think it was a good idea to fight other students since everyone’s goal was the same and there was no penalty for multiple people to finish this trial. And besides, if this girl was actually tricking them, they would just have to keep their guard up and stop her before she did any damage. Marinette seemed to come to the same conclusion as she nodded at him and clasped the girl’s hand.

“I’m Marinette, just a normal girl really. And this is Kit Cat, my familiar. We look forward to this temporary partnership.” Cat knew Marinette wanted to give the girl the benefit of the doubt, based on the genuine smile she gave. It might have just been him, but Cat felt a bit more iffy about this girl.

And Plagg was always telling him a cat’s instincts were never wrong.

The girl smiled a little too sweetly. “The name’s Lila.”


End file.
